My Experience With A Vegan Diet Vs Google
What Google says compared to my experience on the vegan diet as someone who works a desk job
Diets are increasingly popular in modern times. This isn’t surprising considering we are living in a world plagued by health problems and body image issues. I am writing this to explain what I felt on the vegan diet, versus how Google says you should feel on the vegan diet. I will explain what the vegan diet is and what google says the pros and cons are. I will also explain how I felt and my point of view on the diet as a whole, after experimenting with the vegan diet for 90 days.
My Routine While On The Vegan Diet
I tried to keep my routine the same as when I am on my normal diet, so I could determine if the changes I noticed were due to the diet.
Food
4–5 meals a day, depending on the day, totaling around 2500–3000 calories.
Common foods I ate :
Black beans, sweet potatoes, apples, blueberries, spinach, bananas, extra firm tofu, tempeh, black bean burgers, vegan waffles with vegan protein powder, cinnamon-raisin Ezekial bread, chickpea pasta, almonds.
Supplements
Flaxseed oil, Vitamin B12, Zinc, Curcumin, Vegan protein powder
Exercise Regimen
Lift weights 5 times per week (around 1 hour per session)
Play hockey 2 times per week (1 hour of hockey)
Job
Worked a desk job for 8–10 hours per day
Calorie Tracking
I tracked all my calories in MyFitnesPal.
I weighed all the food I ate while I was at home to ensure accuracy.
Food eaten outside of my home was not weighed.
The Vegan Diet
What is the vegan diet?
Vegan diets are made up of only plant-based foods. This type of diet includes fruits, vegetables, soy, legumes, nuts, and nut butter, plant-based dairy alternatives, sprouted or fermented plant foods and whole grains. Vegan diets don’t include animal foods like eggs, dairy, meat, poultry or seafood
Googles’ Pros Of The Vegan Diet
- Reduces risk of heart disease/diabetes
- Reduces inflammation
- Help you lose weight
- Reduced risk of certain cancers (prostate and colon)
- Better for the environment
- Improves mood
Greatest Benefits I noticed from the vegan diet
Weight Loss
Even though I was eating more carbs than I ever have I did lose about 5 pounds on my 90 days as a vegan. I appeared to not have lost much muscle, although it is hard to tell.
Recovery Time
Recovery time was the most noticeable difference from the vegan diet. I was able to go to the gym more often because I was not nearly as sore as I was on my normal diet, even though nothing about my workouts changed. I’m thinking this may have something to do with the vegan diet reducing inflammation.
Gym Performance
My performance in the gym has improved substantially. I have been getting stronger even though I am losing weight. My cardiovascular performance has also noticeably increased as well. Overall, I feel more pumped and energetic when I am in the gym.
Skin
As someone who has always struggled with bad skin and acne, I thought nothing could change it. I accepted I would have acne forever, I was wrong. A few weeks after switching to the vegan diet all of my acne started to disappear. I’ve never felt more confident about how my skin looked as I did while I was on the vegan diet.
Easier To Avoid Unhealthy Foods
Going to the grocery store and buying unhealthy foods became a lot more difficult as a vegan. Many unhealthy foods that you find at restaurants or in the grocery store are not vegan. That is not to say there are not unhealthy vegan foods, they are just harder to find. The only downside was having to say no to my favorite treat, Ben and Jerry’s, but don’t worry they have a vegan version too. Don’t worry Oreos are also vegan!
Saving Money
While on the vegan diet I saved a bunch of money when grocery shopping. Many of the staple foods found in the vegan diet are very cheap. When I went to the grocery store I wouldn’t have to pay the premium price for some salmon or steak. Plant-based foods are also very satiating due to their high fiber content, so I did not have to eat as much food to feel full. When going out to eat vegan meals are often far cheaper than their meaty counterpart.
Googles’ Cons Of The Vegan Diet
- Vitamin B12 deficiency
- Omega 3s deficiency
- Getting enough protein
- Anti-nutrients (Phytates, Lectins, Oxalates)
- Iodine deficiency
- Too much fiber causing GI issues
- Food choices are limited
My Complaints with the Vegan Diet
Sprinting to the bathroom
The vegan diet tends to be very high in fiber. Going from consuming around 30 grams of fiber to 70 grams per day was a huge change. Before my body acclimated to the extreme amount of fiber I was consuming, I was constantly running to the bathroom 5–7 times per day. Although I still run to the bathroom more than I normally did on other diets, due to the large amounts of fiber.
Going out to eat
Going out to eat is more difficult on the vegan diet. When on the vegan diet 90% of the restaurant menu is off-limits for you. Many of my favorite items I would normally order at restaurants were not on the table. I had to be creative and ask for certain dishes without butter, or if they could exchange some of the meat with tofu. You have to review the menu before going out to see if there was something you can enjoy as a vegan.
Vegan Protein Powder
I often use protein powder when cooking, or just to get something quick that is satiating on the go. As a vegan, if you want a delicious tasting protein powder you can take on the go, you may be out of luck. Vegan protein powders often have a grainy consistency and something about the flavor is off. Unless I spent a ridiculous sum of money on a high-quality vegan protein powder, I would have to suffer through each sip, hoping it would be my last.
Food Restriction
In general, I am not a fan of diets that limit what foods you can eat. If I go to a party and they are serving a pizza, I want to be able to eat some of the pizza. Many of my favorite foods do include some kind of meat or dairy. I don’t want to miss out on these opportunities to eat what I want and live my life just because I am restricted by my dietary choices.
What Trends I Noticed Reading Peoples Experiences From Google
There are many reviews of people trying the vegan diet on google. There seem to be two themes, one extremely positive, and extremely negative.
Positive
Many people found the vegan diet positive and found that the diet made them feel healthy and morally satisfied.
The main theme I noticed from people who had positive reviews of the vegan diet was how much weight they lost. People following the vegan diet claimed that they were losing weight without even trying. People following the diet did not complain about hunger, while still dropping the weight.
People were astonished to find that their grocery bills were falling. As it turns out, you can get a lot of vegan food for quite a bargain. This is not a shock as meats tend to be one of the more expensive items you can find at the grocery store.
The last theme I noticed when reading many people’s reviews of the vegan diet was moral. People following the diet seemed to feel good about animal welfare changes, and how their new diet was affecting the environment.
Negative
The main negative theme associated with the vegan diet was people thought that it was hard to stick to. Many foods found in every grocery store have something non-vegan in them. Vegan foods are also hard to find on the go. Limiting food choices, and the availability of vegan foods seems to be a major issue with the vegan diet.
Some people claim that they were unable to function on the vegan diet. Some people claimed they felt horrible or had to completely stop to feel like a normal human again.
GI distress during the first few days of the vegan diet. Many of the reviews I read the author claimed to have to go to the bathroom a lot more than they used to. They also claimed to have some stomach problems due to the high amount of fiber intake.
My Overall Experience and What I Noticed
I will not be continuing the vegan diet, because to put it simply I enjoy many of the foods that are not found in the vegan diet. That being said the vegan diet has made me much more aware of what I eat and also shown me that incorporating more plant-based foods in my diet could have a substantial benefit to my health.
I did notice the many health benefits that were associated with the vegan diet. I do think in the future I will consume more fibrous plant foods as I found they kept me full and kept my digestive track healthy. I will be eating less meat because I found many delicious plant-based proteins that keep me full while still tasting delicious. I will keep up with eating more fruit as well, I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed fruit before this process. I will likely include many more entirely plant-based meals in my diet while still enjoying occasional non-vegan options if I choose to do so.
Would I Recommend The Vegan Diet
Yes, I would recommend the vegan diet because of the many benefits I noticed while following it. Although it may be hard to follow the boost in energy and the skin benefits I noticed were amazing. There is also a plethora of scientific literature touting the benefits of the vegan diet. I would recommend you try it and see if it could fit into your lifestyle. Besides, what is the worst that could happen if you didn’t like the diet?
Good Resources For Veganism
A website ran by Dr. Michael Greger who is an expert on the vegan diet and its health benefits. https://nutritionfacts.org/
Mic the Vegan a research YouTuber who is studying to get his master’s degree in public health. https://micthevegan.com/
Happy Cow a good resource for people looking to find vegan restaurants near you. https://www.happycow.net/
